The Hayesville Yellow Jackets hosted the Swain Maroon Devils in a big conference matchup on Tuesday night. This game marked the halfway point in conference play. With Swain in second and Hayesville in first with a one game lead, this game was to decide who might be the top team in the conference. It was a back and forth game but thanks to a strong 4th quarter Hayesville grinded out a big win. This now gives Hayesville a two game lead in the conference.

Blake McClure makes a tough catch and finishes for two points.

In the first quarter there was plenty of Yellow Jacket offense, getting off to a great start setting an early tone. Hayesville got scoring from six different players, paced by sophomore Kyle Lunsford who had six early points. Swain got a few early buckets and looked like they may stay on pace with Hayesville in the quarter. Towards the end of the quarter, Hayesville tightened up their defense and were able to build a lead. The Yellow Jackets finished the quarter leading 20-12.

In the second quarter Hayesvilles offense was still humming and once again, spread the scoring around. The Yellow Jackets got scoring from five different players in the quarter and almost matched their first quarter scoring output. Yet in this quarter Swain started to heat up, scoring 17 points of their own to make sure Hayesville would not run away with it. The game went to the halftime break with Hayesville leading 39-29.

In the third quarter Swain fought hard and were able to outpace the Jackets for the first time all game. This was thanks to a huge output by their star center Isaiah Collins who had 12 of his 25 points on the night in the third quarter. In the meantime Hayesvilles offense struggled in the quarter and Swain was able to shrink the lead to a one possession game. At the end of the quarter Hayesville was holding onto a 49-47 lead, with it looking like anyone’s game.

Kolbe Ashes drills a mid range jumper.

Typically this season the fourth quarter has belonged to star guard Kolbe Ashe but not on this night. Swain refused to let Ashe beat them single handedly as he has many other opponents this year. With the defense tight on Ashe he made some great passes and was awesome leading the break. Many of those passes went to senior guard Paul White who had a breakout night. He led the Jackets in fourth quarter scoring with 9 points. 

It was great to see some other Yellow Jackets step up on this night in the battle for first place in the conference. As opponents put more and more focus on Kolbe Ashe, it is leaving other Yellow Jackets with scoring opportunities and they are coming up clutch, just as White did tonight. Hayesville finished the game off winning 68-58 securing their poll position in the Smoky Mountain Conference. 

Watch Senior Guard Paul White discuss his team’s big win and his strong fourth quarter performance. 

https://fb.watch/3hdKXMALds/

Hayesville leading scorers:

Kolbe Ashe: 20 points

Paul White: 13 points

Blake McClure: 10 points

Kyle Lunsford: 8 points

Asher Brown: 7 points

Hayesville will next play at Hiwassee Dam on Friday, January 29th. To get updates or see how the Yellow Jackets have done tune in to all the latest coverage FYN sports on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at https://claync.fetchyournews.com/category/teamfynsports.